I was looking for growth potential more than profits,” says Dave Osborne of his decision to buy Medina-based Clam Corporation in 2003. He’s had plenty of both. In the past five years, Clam Corporation’s revenues have gone from $3.4 million to around $13 million.
At the time Osborne came along, Clam Corporation’s future looked murky. On one hand, its customers were extremely loyal to its unique Clam and Fish Trap portable ice fishing shelters, which commanded well over 50 percent of the market. But its parent company, Plymouth-based prefab-construction company USL Products, was undergoing structural changes and wanted to sell it.
Osborne noticed the brand loyalty and the growing sportsmen’s retail market. “I knew that if [Clam] could be an early partner with Gander Mountain, Bass Pro Shops, and the like, their growth would translate into [Clam’s] growth,” he recalls. So Osborne—who knew Dennis Clark, Clam’s president at the time—bought the company.
For the next two years, Osborne and Clark focused on solidifying the Clam brand by improving quality control and customer service. They also streamlined production by moving all assembly to Clam Corporation’s current 70,000-square-foot facility in Medina. (Before moving to the facility, the company had contracted some production with a manufacturer in Chanhassen.) To increase revenue, they developed the Ice Armor line of coats, gloves, hats, and other outerwear designed to handle ice fishing’s frigid environments.
Although his first two years with Clam Corporation were relatively successful, Osborne became determined to make the company less seasonal. “We had no cash flow when all of our expenses were due,” he notes. So in 2005, Clam Corporation bought Minnesota company Polar Trailer, which manufactures trailers that attach to ATVs and riding lawn mowers. Since then, revenues from Polar Trailer have grown from $400,000 to nearly $3 million, or nearly 25 percent of Clam’s total revenues. What’s more, trailer revenue comes in during the off season, when spending on ice fishing is frozen solid.
Osborne and current president Paul Flesch attribute much of the company’s success to quality-driven production and marketing. Clam Corporation makes sure its brand maintains its integrity. While other companies contract with the company for trailers and ice fishing shelters, they are not allowed to use the Clam or Polar names unless they are co-branded. Even the blue color of Clam Corporation’s shelters and Ice Armor clothing is trademarked.
“Blue means Clam, and Clam means the best in the industry,” Flesch asserts. Given its growing revenue and 70 percent market share for ice fishing shelters, Clam Corporation’s customers seem to agree.
